6.9 Preservation and Burial of Ancient Karst

摘要: Ancient karst features can be preserved by burial, filling, or occurring in areas with extremely slow denudation. Although the terms ‘paleokarst', ‘relict karst', ‘buried and ‘fossil karst’ have caused much confusion, paleokarst, buried karst, relict defined useful to geomorphologists cave scientists. The term is best abandoned. Burial paleokarstification are not necessarily end of karst. may exhumed reactivated. Karst ends denudation at Earth's surface. Unroofed caves a particular feature Most ancient exhumation. In unusual conditions, survived surface since Mesozoic. Burial, exhumation, sufficient for extreme survival; relative vertical movement required. As many other landforms negative features, they prone filling range materials, making sediments paleokarst deposits quite diverse. Whole landscapes evidence burial recorded diagenesis sediments. filled unfilled survive shallow deep crush caves, forming crackle breccia. Exhumation occur from following uplift below hypogene speleogenesis. Preservation, exhumation two unexpected consequences. Caves older than which stalagmites longest surviving features.